Please recommend a mainboard.

[rakan]

Hey guys,

Since my recent hard drive problems I'm considering making a new system

I would like to go the AMD dual core 64bit route. This processor looks highly recommended.

I was wondering what motherboard you would recommend to go along with it. I will be using the system for making, compressing, and watching videos. I also do moderate gaming but I very rarely play games graphic intense games (I play Guild Wars from time to time). Suggestion anyone. A few of the reviewers on Newegg recommended this mainboard...

Asus M2N-E

The review seem decent. What do you guys think?

Also, where would I find out about the cooling requirements for a AMD x2 64bit processor. Does it require liquid cooling. Thanks.

[AnotherMuggle]

I think you would be pleased with the performance you will get from that chip. I am using a similar one and I have nothing but good things to say about it.

The ASUS board you are looking at would be fine and is compatible with that processor.

As far as cooling goes, the CPU will come with a heatsink and fan (as long as you get a retail one), the only other thing you will need is an intake and exhaust on your case

[Strider]

First thing I would do is I wouldn't take the reviews of any motherboard at Newegg at face value, you'll be better at seeing what people here at PCMechanic Forums have to say. As long as your not doing any extreme overclocking you don't have to use liquid cooling for a AMD x2 64 bit processor. One last thing in my opinion don't limit yourself down to one CPU vendor, get some info on Intel for they are making some interesting cpu's also.

[rakan]

Thanks for your input guys. I think I may go with that mainboard. There is another one, a M2N32-SLI but I think it may be overkill for what I want. It has a lot of features I don't need such as wireless internet support. I'll look around and see what other people recommend.

[newbuilder14]

I highly suggest you take a look at the Intel Core 2 Duo route, for example:

Motherboards:

Gigabyte DS3
Asus P5B
Intel 965P

Now there are several more but they are around $200+.

For processors take a look at these:

Conroe e6300
Conroe e6400
Conroe e6600

Any of these paired together would be very powerful and perform considerably better than the AMD Athlon 64 x2, but then again this is totally your choice.

[rakan]

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look at the intel processors. As I was looking at motherboards I saw SLI mentioned a lot. Is this feature for extreme gamers? It doesn't sound like something I would need.

[Alaron]

Yes, SLI is only for extreme gamers because it combines two video cards.

Don't worry about it.

[AnotherMuggle]

I think the AMD you initially mentioned is a good choice but certainly you should look at what Intel has to offer, they have some interesting things going on at the moment. Make sure to have a look at the chips suggested by newbuilder14!

The M2N32-SLI motherboard is built on similar technology to the M2N-E but with some added features(SLi support & wireless), which if you dont need then it's not worth the extra cash.